Although Mr Powell's departure was
announced on November 15, his letter of resignation was dated November
11, the day he had a meeting with Mr Bush.
According to White House officials, at
the meeting Mr Powell was not asked to stay on and gave no hints that
he would do so. Briefing reporters later, he referred to "fulsome
discussions" - diplomatic code for disagreements.
"The clincher came over the Mid-East
peace process," said a recently-retired state department official.
"Powell thought he could use the
credit he had banked as the president's 'good cop' in foreign policy to
rein in Ariel Sharon [Israel's prime minister] and get the peace
process going. He was wrong."
Bob Woodward, the veteran Washington
reporter who was granted unprecedented access to the first Bush
administration for his books Bush At War and Plan Of Attack, said last
week that Mr Powell had been "dreaming" if he thought that he could
stay on.
Vice-president Dick Cheney and his
fellow hardliner, John Bolton, an under-secretary of state to Mr
Powell, are both understood to have lobbied Mr Bush to replace him.
They wanted to make Iran's alleged
nuclear bomb aspirations and support for Islamic terror groups the
foreign policy priority for the new administration and believed that Mr
Powell would back away from a confrontational approach.
The two are frustrated that Britain,
France and Germany are still seeking a diplomatic deal with Teheran
rather than backing an immediate UN Security Council resolution
condemning Iran and threatening sanctions.
Mr Powell's final pitch to remain in
office for at least another year was made during Tony Blair's visit to
Washington nine days ago, The Telegraph has learned. Earlier
indications had been that he intended to step down after enduring four
years of clashes with the office of Mr Cheney and the Pentagon under
Donald Rumsfeld.
Friends of Mr Powell later briefed
journalists that he had changed his mind because he saw the chance of
progress on the peace process and wanted to see through the Iraqi
elections.
Mr Powell is to be replaced by
Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser and close confidante of
Mr Bush.
Mr Bolton's predicted promotion as her
deputy is a further signal that the president wants to conduct foreign
policy without the "moderating" influence and popular public face of Mr
Powell.
Prominent neo-conservatives in
Washington make no secret of their desire for regime change in Teheran,
although few believe that a full-scale military operation is a viable
strategy.
Instead, the emphasis is on
establishing economic sanctions as a means to squeeze the ruling
mullahs. There is also the option that the US may tacitly back Israeli
air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The overhaul of the CIA under its new
director, Porter Goss, a recent Bush appointee, is also intended to
remove critics of America's foreign policy.
©
Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004
NOTE: In the
world of real politick there is a sense that the Palestinians prefer to
deal with Rice. Because of her posting to the White House, she is
perceived as having daily, the ear of a President who is an active
participant in the conduct of foreign policy. Rice, a member of
the National Security Council for years, is a woman who knows how
to seize and wield power. Her specialization in Soviet studies makes
her invaluable as we deal with the tortured soul of a former super
power, whose leader is ambivalent about his relationship with both our
President and our historical nation. If we are going to stop the
proliferation on nuclear weapons without the United Nations, we will
need the Russians as our partners.
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